Gender Lens Investing Q3 2025 is a Review of Sustainable and Equality-focused Investing. The report examines the latest performance and composition of gender lens equity funds and provides updates on gender lens fixed income, DEI equity funds, and women in the economy. The review includes:
An update on women in the global economy and an outlook for gender lens investing.
We present our 18th review of gender lens and sustainable investing, marking more than five years of summarizing the latest data and developments on (a) women in the global economy and workplace and (b) sustainable and equality-focused investing. In keeping with our longstanding definition, we see gender lens investing (GLI) as investing in women, by women, and for women. While progress on the closure of global economic and financial gender gaps has stalled over the last three years, growth continues in opportunities for investors to direct resources across the capital markets spectrum towards women borrowers, gender equality-focused projects and workplaces, and the incorporation of social equality into all environmental and climate-related investing.
In the face of political pushback against equality, women and other underrepresented populations remain partially or fully excluded from economic and financial participation in every global region. However, despite regulatory and political pressures on sustainable investing, investor demand remains strong. At Parallelle Finance, we look toward 2026 with a continued focus on providing research and consulting services in sustainable and gender lens investing.
- The report begins with an update on women in the global economy. According to the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2025, it will take 123 years to close global gender gaps at the current pace of change. The latest financial and economic gender gap metrics show a continued stall on many fronts, as well as clear backsliding for women in corporate leadership. In the U.S., women are being pushed out of the labor force at an alarming rate, while unadjusted pay gaps have widened for two consecutive years.
- We follow that update with a discussion of trends in sustainable and gender lens investing. GLI growth areas include gender lens fixed income, financing for women-owned MSMEs in emerging and frontier markets, and climate + gender finance.
- In addition, the report includes a YTD update on equality-focused equity funds. AUM in publicly traded gender lens equity funds (GLEFs) totaled $4.8 billion in AUM as of September 30, 2025. AUM growth was 7.1% for the YTD period through September 30, 2025, driven by increased AUM in a selection of funds, particularly several domiciled in Europe.
- Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) equity funds totaled US$2.5 billion in AUM as of September 30, 2025. These funds focus on investing in companies with robust DEI policies or social justice track records. AUM growth was 20.9% for the YTD period through September 30, 2025.
AUM in gender bonds reached $62.4 billion as of September 30, 2025, an increase of 9% YTD. The Parallelle Finance gender equality-focused bond types are the following. See Section 3 for AUM and our definitions of each.
- Use-of-proceeds primary gender bonds
- Use-of-proceeds component gender bonds
- Performance-based gender bonds
- Wider scope (not included in AUM): ICMA, SDG, ESG aligned bonds that exhibit allocations not specified pre-issuance.
- Widest scope (not included in AUM): ICMA-aligned Green bonds that include a stated focus on equality; climate + inclusion municipal bonds and/or issuances in Green categories which benefit underserved populations; GSSS bonds by issuers ranking relatively high on gender equality indexes or metrics.
In addition to Gender bonds, our database includes $1 billion in gender lens bond funds, notes, and certificates available to individual investors, bringing the AUM in our coverage universe of gender lens fixed income to $63.4 billion as of September 30, 2025.